"You remember Riddle's diary, don't you? I've been investigating what that thing really was, and I found clues in this book."
She placed both the book and the thoroughly damaged diadem on Dumbledore's desk.
"This book—it's not something a child your age should be delving into," Dumbledore said, his brow furrowing slightly. "Where did you get it?"
"Professor," Orli said, not answering his question. "Our focus right now isn't where this book came from—it's Horcruxes."
She reached out to open the book to the relevant section, pointing it out to Dumbledore.
"I believe you've already researched this far as well, haven't you?"
Dumbledore and Orli locked eyes for a moment. Finally, he waved his wand.
Several books flew from the bookshelf behind him, landing on the desk. Orli saw that the topmost one had Secrets of the Darkest Art written on its cover.
"Ever since I began studying that diary, I've removed these books from the Restricted Section," Dumbledore said.
Orli finally understood why she hadn't been able to find any books about soul magic in the Restricted Section back then—Dumbledore had taken them all.
"And I took these things not only to study them, but more importantly because I didn't want a second Tom Riddle to emerge in the school."
Dumbledore continued: "Orli, you're a clever child. You understand what I mean, don't you?"
"If you're worried that I'll create a few Horcruxes for myself, there's no need. I have no interest in foolish soul-splitting, nor would I let the methods for creating these things spread from me—quite the opposite, I just destroyed one."
She tapped the damaged diadem with her finger.
"This is... Ravenclaw's diadem?..." Dumbledore reached out and picked it up, examining it carefully. "...Basilisk venom?"
"Yes."
Orli's answer was crisp and final.
"You don't need to ask where I found it, nor do you need to know how I discovered it was a Horcrux. You only need to know that our goals align."
Dumbledore gazed deeply at Orli, then looked at her sleeve stained with dried blood. He was silent for a moment, then said:
"Destroying this Horcrux wasn't easy, was it?"
"Some hallucinations. Pain can overcome them."
Orli directly reached out and tore off that sleeve.
"What kind of hallucinations?" Dumbledore pressed.
"...I don't want to remember."
The Horcrux had stirred up the deepest pain and fear in Orli's heart. In the illusion, she had seen Snape—in the worst possible way.
"If you still plan to eliminate Voldemort, then Horcruxes are the key."
She forced herself to forget the images she'd seen in the hallucination and continued:
"With your understanding of Voldemort, you should have already found clues to one or two of them, shouldn't you?"
"...Indeed so," Dumbledore said after a moment's contemplation.
"Then, if you're willing to exchange information—I believe that if Ravenclaw's diadem has already become a Horcrux, then Slytherin's locket and Hufflepuff's cup would be hard to escape the same fate."
Dumbledore nodded in agreement:
"Tom Riddle, or rather, Voldemort. He's always thought highly of himself, so naturally he would choose containers of extreme value for his soul... The diary from back then might've been an exception, but its contents could prove he was Slytherin's heir. Therefore, I approached it from this angle—I believe we should look at Voldemort's mother's family estate."
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